Matt—The Callahan Brothers (Brazos Bend Book 2) (12 page)

“There is nothing defenseless about that dog.”

Torie set Gigi on the ground and muttered, “Bite him, girl.”

He took a step away and kept a wary eye on Torie’s pet.

“This is ridiculous. Listen, Callahan, Brazos Bend is big enough for both of us. I promise I won’t get anywhere near you with or without a gun. You have no reason to feel threatened by me.”

“I’m not threatened by you,” he scoffed.

She quirked a doubtful brow. “Uh-huh.”

“You complicate things, and the last thing I need right now are more complications.”

“Now, that’s not fair. You’re the one complicating matters here. All I did was check quietly into a B and B. You’re the one who came racing over here all but frothing at the mouth. I have to say, Callahan, you’re acting more like a rabid Lassie than 007.”

“Would you stop with the stupid Bond business? I hate that.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “I need an aspirin. Hell, I need a shot of whiskey.”

“You need something, that’s for sure.”
Like a good lay. That’d get rid of some tension.
Torie sniffed and lifted her chin. “You’re not acting rationally.”

He gaped at her. “This from the woman who shot up my truck?”

Ignoring that, she continued. “I thought secret agents were supposed to be calm, cool, and collected. Smart. Blackmail isn’t smart, Callahan.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw.
Whoa. Struck a nerve there.
Almost a minute dragged by before he let out a long sigh and spoke again. “What are you doing here, Victoria?”

“I really don’t have to explain myself to you, but out of courtesy, I will. It’s rather simple. Someone is after me. I don’t want them to find me. Brazos Bend is a good place to hide until I can figure out what to do next.”

Matt lifted his stare from Gigi and met her gaze. “Look, Victoria, after you left, I made some calls.”

“So?”

“I confirmed that you told me the truth.”

“I see.” He wouldn’t take her word. He’d had to confirm it independently. Typical.

After a moment’s hesitation, he nodded. “I don’t blame you for wanting protection.”

Hope flickered. “So you’ll—”

“No. But I know someone in Dallas who might be interested in the job.”

“Why won’t you help me?”

“I don’t want to.”

So much for him being one of the good guys. He really didn’t like her, did he? Disappointment washed through her. Because he’d gone to the trouble to track her down at Cottonwood Cottage, she’d thought he’d changed his mind and would help her. Instead all he really wanted was to get rid of her.

No wonder he and her father were friends. They thought just alike.

Matt reached into a pocket and pulled out a small notebook. He jotted down a phone number. “He’s a bodyguard for a financier who regularly travels to Mexico. He has free time now because his boss is on vacation and–”

Sure, pawn me off on someone else.

“No, thank you,” Torie interrupted. “I’m sure he’s probably a very nice guy, but I once dated a bodyguard and I swore I’d never get involved with a man like that again.”

He rolled his eyes. “I’m suggesting you hire him, not sleep with him.”

“I don’t like bodyguards. Between Bruno and the ones I’ve run into on my job, I’ve had nothing but bad experiences with them.”

Matt stared at her as if she were an unknown bug under a microscope. “You dated a bodyguard named Bruno?”

“He was Swiss. The accent did it for me.” Torie shrugged off the memory. “Having a bodyguard around all the time would make me as nervous as having a stalker on my tail.”

“That’s a stupid reason for putting yourself in danger.”

He did have a point. By refusing the guard, she was letting her stubborn get in the way of her smart.
Dumb, Bradshaw. Dumb.

All right, she’d give his friend a call and ask him to meet her here in Brazos Bend. Torie opened her mouth to tell him, but Matt Callahan was on a roll and she couldn’t get a word in edgewise.

“Look, Victoria,” he said. “You need to rethink your entire plan. Small towns are notoriously bad places to hide. Everyone knows everyone here, so newcomers invariably create a stir. The gossips love nothing more than fresh meat and you’ll be fresher than most. You’ll be the talk of Brazos Bend by morning.”

Okay, fine. Maybe he had another point. Maybe she would be safer in the anonymity of a big city. But she wasn’t ready to throw in the towel. Not yet. “So they talk. Who will they talk to? Are there other members of the paparazzi in town? No one here knows me. Besides, who’s going to connect Vicky Bradshaw, which is the name I’ve used here, with Torie Bradshaw?”

“Maybe nobody, but can you afford to take the chance?”

She thought it through another minute, then sighed and whined just a little. “I like it here.”

“Come back and visit another time. For now, you need to hide yourself in a big city, preferably with a bodyguard to watch your back, while a professional investigates these incidents. I can give you names of good investigators, too.”

She folded her arms and sighed heavily. “All right. You win, Callahan. You can have your town back. I’ll leave first thing in the ... no, wait. I can’t go tomorrow. I’m booked the entire day.”

“Booked?” His blue eyes narrowed. “What do you mean, booked?”

“Photo shoots. Bluebonnets and babies.” She told him about meeting the Williams and the snowball effect of agreeing to that first sitting.

“You’ve got some nutcase stalking you and you booked an entire day with little kids? Are you insane?” His lip curled. “That’s great. Just great. Don’t you ever think about the consequences of your actions?”

Oh. Her eyes rounded and she fell back a step, taking it as a blow. She hadn’t connected the children and her stalker. She’d felt safe in Brazos Bend. The man was right, one more time. This was getting really old. “I wasn’t thinking about the stalker.”

“Obviously.”

His scathing tone raised both defensiveness and temper. “You know what? I’m tired of being the bad guy here.” She advanced on him now, her back straight, her chin up. “I’m sorry that I shot you, okay? I’m sorry that I shot your truck. I’m sorry I freaking exist! But I’m not sorry about wanting to enjoy a few hours out in the sun with smiling babies and their parents. I don’t get that kind of gig very often, Callahan. I just wanted to forget about my troubles for a few hours. I didn’t think about endangering the kids. You’re right. I’ll call and cancel the sittings, and then I’ll leave town. So you can just get happy. Your mission is accomplished.”

She turned to storm away, but he reached out and grabbed her. “Wait a minute. Just who are you supposed to take pictures of?”

“I told you. Children.”

“Which children?”

Torie glared down at his hand holding her arm just above the elbow. When he released her, she slipped her notebook from her camera bag and read the first name.

Matt immediately groaned. “Janice teaches kindergarten and Sunday school and she’s a blabbermouth. You’ll have every rug rat in town lined up here tomorrow. Way to keep a low profile, Shutterbug.”

Torie scratched Gigi behind the ears and frowned at Matt. “I already said I’d cancel. It’s too bad because everyone was so excited and besides, I keep my word. Tell me the truth, Callahan. How much a risk would it be for me to hang around another day?”

After a moment’s hesitation, he asked, “Who else are you supposed to photograph?”

She continued her list. After the second one, he groaned again. After the fifth one he muttered a curse. After the eighth name he threw out his hands. “That’s it. Martine Rodriguez is Juanita Garza’s godchild. She’d never make me Snickerdoodles again if I chased you out of town. Stay and take the pictures, Victoria. You’ll be safe here that long.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to be stupid about this.”

“I’ll guard the kids while you do your thing.”

She studied him. She didn’t see any sign of hesitation or misgiving on his part. Matt Callahan wouldn’t put children at risk, so it would be okay for her to stay. “All right, then. I’ll leave here the day after tomorrow.”

“Good decision.” He nodded decisively, then shoved his hands in his pockets. “Where will you go?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t exactly had time to figure everything out, but I don’t need to be anywhere in particular until the Cannes Film Festival in a few weeks.”

“Will you consider the bodyguard? If my guy in Dallas doesn’t do it for you, I know a woman who worked for the governor... .”

“I’ll think about it.”

“And the private investigator?”

“That, too.”

“Good.” Matt rocked back on his heels. “That’s good.”

“Well, then.” She extended her arm for a handshake. “Goodbye.”

He stared at her coral-colored nail polish a long minute. “I’ll check on you tomorrow.”

“Thank you.” Finally, she reached for his hand and shook it. “Good night.”

He didn’t let her go. He kept his gaze fixed on their joined hands and the air between them swelled and sizzled with tension. What was he thinking? Was he going to kiss her? She could live with that. One for the road, so to speak.

She swayed toward him. Licked her lips.

“I’m an idiot,” Matt Callahan muttered as he swooped in and took possession of her mouth.

It was the kind of kiss that women fantasize about. Hard and hungry. Devouring. There was nothing of the suave, sophisticated spy in the pressure of his lips, the thrust of his tongue. This was a man at his most basic, a strong man compelled by desire too powerful to resist. Desire for her. Her!

It was the headiest moment of her life.

His arms dragged her to him and she melted against his hard, muscular length. He tasted of spearmint and smelled of Polo aftershave and a hint of motor oil. When his hands started to move, his fingers stroking up and down her back, drifting down to cup her buttocks and clutch her against him, she thought she might dissolve to a puddle at his feet. The hardness pressing against her belly made her deliciously wet and achy.

He made a growling sound low in his throat that cut off abruptly when a horn honked and a carload of teenage boys blew by, calling out, “Get a room!”

Matt tore his mouth away from hers. “Good idea. Yours is closest.”

He released her, taking a step back, and they stared at each other, both of them breathing heavily. Her knees weak, Torie grabbed for something ... anything ... to hold on to. She came within a hairbreadth of snapping the antenna off his truck.

“Come on.” He grabbed her hand and started pulling her toward the B and B. Her wits scattered, and aroused to the point of pain, Torie went along blindly until she banged her sandal-clad toes on a rock hidden by the ankle-high grass. The pain shocked her from her sexual stupor and she planted her feet. “Wait a minute. Just wait one minute.”

“Let’s not.” He gave her hand a tug. “Let’s hurry.”

She tugged back. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“Sure it is.”

“This is too spur of the moment for me. I need to think about this.”

“No, you don’t. Thinking is a bad idea. I’ve been trying to do that all day, but I’m ready to give it up. Let’s both just go with feeling, and in twenty minutes we’ll feel a whole lot better.”

“Twenty minutes? That’s all?” They might as well be married.

“Judging by that kiss, I doubt we’ll last that long.”

Torie yanked her arm hard, pulling her hand from his grasp. “Well, if I’m going to do this, I want longer than twenty minutes.”

“Fine. Do you have condoms?”

Torie blinked. “Uh ...”

“I only have one with me. If you want more than twenty minutes, we’ll need more than one.”

“I don’t carry them with me.” What kind of woman did he take her for?

“Well, that’s stupid. Having unprotected sex in this day and age is—”

“I don’t have unprotected sex! I don’t have sex at all. I haven’t had sex since the island!”

Matt Callahan froze. “What did you say?”

“You heard me.”

Obviously stunned, he gaped at her. “We didn’t have sex on the island.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Did you have sex with someone else on the island?”

“No. I had sex with someone else before I went to the island, but not since I came back.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m picky, that’s why! Which makes what I’m doing right now completely beyond belief. You might be sexy as sin, but you hate me. I don’t make a habit of lusting after men who despise the ground I walk on.”

“Look, I don’t hate you.”

“But you don’t respect me.”

“Maybe not, but I dream about you, Victoria. Why do you think I tried so hard to get you to leave? You threaten me. I dream of you at least once a month. All right, twice. Then I think about those dreams during the daytime. I’m haunted by you. I want you, okay? Bad. That should make you feel good.”

Well, yes. It did. It was a real boost for her feminine ego. But still ... “It makes me feel cheap.”